CONDEMNATION RALLY. The League of Parents of the Philippines holds a rally on Dec. 23 as they urge the Dutch Embassy to stop harboring Communist Party of the Philippines founder Joma Sison and to terminate his asylum status in the Netherlands. The group also condemned the terrorist activities of the CPP-NPA, the latest of which was the attack in Borongan City, Eastern Samar. (Contributed photo)
MANILA-- The anti-communist group, League of Parents of the Philippines (LPP) on Monday said the return of Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria "Joma" Sison to the Philippines and the termination of his asylum status in the Netherlands may curtail the attacks made by the New People's Army.
The group made this call during a condemnation rally in front of the Dutch Embassy in Makati City, as they called on the Dutch embassy to cooperate in the return of Sison.
Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, who was in the gathering, said the Dutch government should stop harboring Sison and let him face every rap filed against him.
He said this would help the Philipines address the long-standing communist insurgency and even curb communists' recruitment among youth.
"Kung itinuturing ng Netherlands na kaibigan nila ang Pilipinas ay dapat hindi nila itatago at kakalingain ang isang taong napakalaki ng kasalanan sa sambayang Pilipino (If the Netherlands considers the Philippines as its friend, it should not harbor a man with many sins to the Filipino people)," he said.
Sison, Topacio said, is orchestrating the communist insurgency while he is under the protection of the Dutch government.
This setup, Topacio added, results in the death of soldiers, policemen, and civilians, yet Sison's punishment of his supposed crimes are not justly served.
"Joma Sison should face the Philippine justice system by the time he gets back here," he said.
The league also condemned the recent attack of suspected News People's Army (NPA) rebels in Borongan City, Eastern Samar, which has resulted in the death of four individuals.
The NPA is the armed wing of the CPP.
No stopping
Aside from series of protests, Topacio said the league will extend more efforts to send back Sison to the Philippines.
"You'll see, we will step up our activities as I've said earlier. We will fight, even if it means that we have to go there to protest in front of Joma's house, we will do that," he said.
He added that even if it means that the league has to write communications to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands just to report the CPP-NPA's atrocities, they will not hesitate to do it.
Topacio said the LPP will exert more pressure on the country's diplomatic institutions just to send Sison home.
"Yun lang naman ang amin eh, kung susunod sila sa batas, wala kaming pakialam kung komunista, sosyalista sila. (That's all we wanted, that they follow the law. We don't care if they're communists or socialists.) We are a democratic society, but once you violate the law by taking arms against the government, and killing soldiers na bibilang din naman yan sa mga maralita na sinasabi nila, na ipinaglalaban nila, hindi po tayo pwedeng magkasundo at patuloy po kaming lalaban sa inyo (who also belong to the poor as they say, and whom they are fighting for, we cannot agree with you on that and we will continue to fight against you)," he said.
Topacio urged members of the NPA to stop pushing the communists' wrong ideologies.
"Ubusin man natin lahat ng sundalo at kapulisan ngayon, magalit man tayo sa gobyerno, hindi yan garantiya na mawawala po yung mga sakit ng ating lipunan. Ang makakawala po ng sakit na yan ay working within the law, ireporma natin ang mga batas, ireporma natin ag struktura ng pamahalaan upang yung sinasabi niyong mga hadlang sa ating tuluyang pag asenso ay mawala na (You can wipe out all soldiers and policemen, you can get angry with the government, but it won't guarantee solution to societal issues. It can be solved by working within the law, reforming the law, reforming the government and the structure so that problems will be addressed.)
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines. (PNA)
